''Heaven's Open'' is the 14th

record album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

performed by

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, released in 1991. It was his last album on

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, and also the only album he released under the name Michael Oldfield, instead of Mike Oldfield. The producer of the album, Tom Newman's name is also spelled out in a similar manner, as Thom Newman.

History

By 1991 and the release of Heaven's Open, Oldfield was happy to leave

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. The final goodbye to Virgin appears at the very end of "Music from the Balcony", where quiet laughter and Oldfield's voice saying "Fuck off!" can be heard. ''Heaven's Open'' is Oldfield's only album where he performs all the lead vocals himself, due to his having come to terms with the sound of his own voice. After leaving Virgin, Oldfield released the anticipated ''

Tubular Bells II ''Tubular Bells II'' is the fifteenth studio album by English guitarist and songwriter Mike Oldfield. It was released on 31 August 1992 by Warner Music UK and is the successor to his debut album '' Tubular Bells'' (1973). After his contract with ...

'' in 1992 with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

Connections to other Oldfield albums

The album's cover is a reworked version of a photo originally taken for ''

Tubular Bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

'', when the working title was ''Breakfast in Bed''. In this cover art, blood was pictured dripping from the egg, rather than yolk. The working title for ''Heaven's Open'' was ''Man in the Rain''. The song "Heaven's Open" comes largely from an early version of "Man in the Rain". The " Man in the Rain" title would later be used by Oldfield as a single from the '' Tubular Bells III'' album. Stylistically, ''Heaven's Open'' returns to the format of Oldfield's commercially oriented records of the early to mid-1980s, and features a selection of accessible pop/rock songs, as well as a more progressive long-form piece. Unlike previous albums such as ''

Five Miles Out ''Five Miles Out'' is the seventh studio album by English recording artist Mike Oldfield, released on 19 February 1982 by Virgin Records in the UK. After touring in support of his previous album, '' QE2'' (1980), ended in mid-1981, Oldfield sta ...

'' and ''

Crises A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'', the album's longer composition closes the album as opposed to opening it, as with Oldfield's album ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

''.

Singles

" Gimme Back" and the title track "

Heaven's Open ''Heaven's Open'' is the 14th record album performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1991. It was his last album on Virgin, and also the only album he released under the name Michael Oldfield, instead of Mike Oldfield. The producer of the album, ...

" were released as singles in 1991. Both were also released under the name Michael Oldfield.

Equipment

Musical equipment on the album includes

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

, C-Lab and Fairlight products. Also featured are

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

D50, MKS-80 and D550s, an

Akai Akai ( ja, 赤井, ) is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong purchased the Akai brand, and now distributes various electronic produc ...

S900, S1000 and S1100, an

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

Proteus, a

Korg M1 The Korg M1 is a synthesizer and music workstation manufactured by Korg from 1988 to 1995. According to ''Sound on Sound'', it is one of the bestselling synthesizers, selling an estimated 250,000 units. Development Korg's chief engineer, Junichi ...

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

DX5 and the

Steinberg Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops music writing, recording, arranging, and editing software, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It als ...

'Topaz'. A

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

series X mixing console, a

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

3348 digital tape machine and microphones made by Bruel & Kjaer were used in the creation of the album.

Track listing

All tracks written by Mike Oldfield.

Side one

# "Make Make" – 4:18 # "No Dream" – 6:02 # "Mr. Shame" – 4:22 # " Gimme Back" – 4:12 # "

" – 4:31

Side two

# "Music from the Balcony" – 19:44

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Simon Phillips –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Dave Levy – bass *

Mickey Simmonds Mickey Simmonds (born 31 January 1959, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England) is an English session keyboardist, arranger and composer. He is best known for his work with progressive rock acts, Mike Oldfield, Renaissance, Camel and Fish. He ha ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Andrew Longhurst – additional keyboards, sequencing and samples *

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

* The "Sassy Choir" ** Vicki St. James ** Sylvia Mason-James ** Dolly James ** Debi Doss ** Shirlie Roden ** Valeria Etienne * Additional vocal harmonies **

Anita Hegerland Anita Hegerland (born 3 March 1961 in Sandefjord) is Norway's biggest selling solo artist.Bergan, Jon Vidar (December 30, 2019). “Anita Hegerland”. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 26, 2021, from https://snl.no/Anita_Hegerl ...

** Nikki "B" Bentley ** Tom Newman

References

External links

Mike Oldfield Discography - ''Heaven's Open''
at Tubular.net {{Authority control Mike Oldfield albums 1991 albums Concept albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Tom Newman (musician)